Cannock Chase Council in crackdown on long-term sick leave

A crackdown on long-term sick leave has been launched by a Staffordshire council, with a new team expected to be appointed to assess workers' health.

Staff at Cannock Chase Council were away ill for an average of 11 days in a year, a figure which bosses say is inflated by absentees who have been away for more than a month at a time.

They are reviewing a contract with their occupational health service with a view to appointing a different provider.

Meanwhile sickness rates at Lichfield District Council went up last year, from and average 8.2 days to 8.7 per employee.

The national annual average in the public sector is 9.1 days off sick, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found.

Eight of Cannock's 650 employees have been off sick for more than a month.

Today Cannock council leader, George Adamson, said the authority was keen to build on improvements which saw average sickness absence slashed from 12.8 days in 2009/10 to 10.99 days in 2010/11.

Employees on long-term sick leave are currently referred to an occupational health team based at a hospital in the county but Councillor Adamson revealed talks over a switch of providers is currently under way.

"It's good to hear it is coming down but it is still too high," he said.

"We are looking at using a different provider, the one we have got at the moment is quite expensive and we want to get people back to work sooner.

"There are two elements to it – we want to benefit the employee and make sure they are getting the help they need; and we also want to get them back to health and back to work."

Workers at Cannock can self-certify for up to seven days but then must provide a doctor's note. After 28 days they may be referred to an occupational health worker.